


Language Barrier

by BadAtChoosingUsernames



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies), Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: F/M, Fem!Kirk, Gen, Language Barrier, Mind Meld, Vulcan Language, can totally be read as gen, including spock, most of the crew cant speak english, multi chapter story, not sure if i will go with the k/s but its possible, silent chess matches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-15
Updated: 2016-07-07
Packaged: 2018-07-15 07:59:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7214179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BadAtChoosingUsernames/pseuds/BadAtChoosingUsernames
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(Fem!Kirk version. Normal version also available)<br/>An indicant in an ion storm causes the entire crew to only be able to speak and understand their first language.<br/>Possible K/S but it can totally be read as just friendship for now!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter one

 

The atmosphere on the bridge was filled with tense focus. The ion storm they had been navigating along had been behaving with strange and unexpected occurrences.

It should have been a simple mission, a boring one, in fact. Just star mapping of a currently unexplored nebula.

Kirk had informed Starfeet that the “ion storm” (if thats what you could call it) was unpredictable and unlike any they had seen before. But they had received orders to proceed with caution and continue the mission.

Spock had advised against getting so close to the storm, but there was no way they could get the rest of the readings from the distance that Spock was suggesting. As the storm was slowly and evenly progressing worse, it seemed better to just get the readings as quickly as possible so they wouldn't be stuck here for longer than they had too.

“Captain.” Came Spocks voice from his station. “Readings show that another blast wave could occur in six point seven twelve minuets.” he reported. To anyone else on the bridge he would have seemed as stoic and calm as ever, but Kirk could read the subtle hint of urgency in his voice and the tense was he held his hands behind his back.

That was enough for Kirk to take it seriously.

“Alright.” she sighed, shifting her weight in the chair. “Thats enough for today. Sulu, sum up this last scan and engage reverse-”

The bridge flickered into darkness and a sudden and aggressive high pitched tone took over the room. The crew clutched onto their heads and ears as the sharp signal shot through them and cut into their heads. There was screaming, and panic, and then nothingness...

The first think Kirk noticed was the throbbing sensation in her head. The next was the cold hardness of the floor beneath her chair.

He eyes came into focus as the spinning of the room slowed down to a less nauseating pace. She slowly sat up with a groan. It was still dark but life support was apparently still functioning.

Then the panic quickly made itself known.

“Report!” She shouted, the sound of her own voice rattling her brain.

The response was a series of groans as the crew began to regain consciousness, each of then raising their hand and keeping them up in the air to show they were okay.

She made a quick head count as she climbed back onto her chair, satisfied that no one had been seriously hurt she quickly hit the button for engineering.

Some too-loud clashes and bangs greeted her, along with relief as Scotties voice filled the comm.

“Yes Captain!” He shouted over the madness “We're getting it under control -Not that one laddie, the blue one! Gimme that!- she'll be back to full power in five minuets”

“Alright Scotty” Kirk rubbed her temples, not wanting to distract Scotty from fixing the ship. “Just report in ten.”

She turned to Spocks, who was giving her a strange look and frowning. The lights were still flickering on and off.

“Spock, what's the damage?” She asked, ready to begin action.

Spock continued to stare and frown, slightly tilting his head in confusion.

“Spock!” Kirk said, becoming more annoyed “I need a status report, can we expect another wave? Do we need to exert power to shields?”

Spock shook his head as he spoke “ _khart-lan, i ri tor ken-tor ish-veh zhit._ ”

The words came out fluid and graceful and unmistakably Vulcan.

Kirk was taken aback at first but then sighed with annoyance.

“shit, you must have a concussion” She pressed the button that alerted sick bay they they needed assistance. Someone would come and collect Spock when they themselves recovered.

“Sulu, status report?”

Sulu was still sitting on the floor with his hand to his head. He gave Kirk a similar look that Spock had given her.

“Sulu?!”

He just sat there, frowning at her.

Chekov suddenly stood up, panicked. _“Капитан , что происходит?_ ” He practically shrieked to his captain.

Kirk stood up in alarm and looked around.

“Can anyone on this damn bridge understand a word im saying?” She then looked to Uhura, and remembered she was currently in the same room as the head of communications and a fluent speaker of many languages.

“Uhura!” She said, approaching her station “Whats everyone saying? Please tell me you can translate”

Uhura fiddled with her earpiece and shook her head

“ _i hawezi kuelewa unachosema_ ” she replied helplessly.  
Kirk felt her heart sink in defeat and walked back to the captains chair and commed to sickbay.

“Bones, you better get up here”

***************************************

About 20 minuets had passed since the incident. The lights were now at least fully functioning.

McCoy was still buzzing about scanning people and shining lights in their eyes while they tried to fix the mess they were wading through.

Kirk had also called for some extra standard-speaking crew members to help out on the bridge when the language barrier, well.. became a barrier.

The universal translators seemed to also refuse to work for no apparent reason. They appeared to be switched on and functioning but the little green power light was the only service it currently offered.

Kirk barked orders at the crew while frantically pointing and gesturing to various equipment that needed to be seen too. She was stressed, everyone was stressed.

She felt the sudden sting of a hypo in the back of her neck as McCoy took stole a small blood sample

“Bones!” she shouted “I swear to god, this is hard enough without you hypo-ing everyone every two seconds”

“Hey! I dont know whats going on here any more than you do Jim!” He snapped back “I need to run tests, see if there's an infection”

“Do you have to do it under my god damn feet?” She said rubbing her neck.

McCoy widened his eyes in frustration and brought up his pointer finger, ready to give Kirk a lecture. Kirk held up her hands in surrender “Okay, look, im sorry. Do what you have too.” They both looked over to Sulu and Chekov, who were now yelling at each other in Russian and Japanese as a young yeoman panicked over the control panel.

What a shit show.

Kirk pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling the stress induced head ache settling in. “What do we know so far?” she asked

“Well, not much” McCoy said in a softer tone. “Just that obviously people seem to only be able to speak and understand their first language, its ship wide, and started when everyone passed out. But just give me a couple of hours Jim, we'll get some more information on this thing”

The comm beeped and Kirk pressed the button at her chair. It was engineering.

“captain” came Scottys heavy accent. “m'afraid we've had confirmation of the previous calculations” He said “at this rate at such low power its gonna take 'er two full days to drift away from the reach o' this storm. Theres nay a lot we can do about it down 'ere if we wanna keep enough for the shields to be ready”

Spock was watching Kirk and McCoys facial expressions to calculate the rate of success they were having in ship repairs and all of the other issues they were faced with. He concluded it was not going well. Kirk caught his gaze as she said something over the comm, before walking over to check on Spocks station. She put her hands on the back of Spocks chair and looked to the young officer that had been assigned to translate his findings. The young woman fumbled as she tried to explain the scientific data she was viewing on Spocks screen to the captain. Spock had no idea if what she was saying was anything even close to what he hoped she had concluded from observing the scientific data he displayed. Kirk said something back and they talked for a moment, before she gave him a weak smile and went back to speaking over the intercom. 

 


	2. Chapter two

Kirk laid on her bed flat on her back.

That was quite possibly the worst shift she had ever had to deal with as captain, and she had dealt with some pretty terrible situations.

Communication was one of this crews many, many strong points. it was the difference between them being just work colleagues and being the close family they had become. 

With out the ability to communicate to each other, the ship felt like it was falling apart.

Plus, not having Spock at her right hand side to offer his advice and findings was turning out to be way more of a handicap than expected.

_Spock_

She suddenly remembered the chess game they had planned to have that afternoon, like they did most afternoons. She glanced at the clock, still 23 minuets till he would have been expecting her. You dont need to talk to play chess, right?

Kirk stood outside the door to Spocks personal living quarters waiting patently. The familiar buzz of the door being unlocked sounded and the door opened. Spock stood at the doorway for a moment before stepping aside, allowing Kirk entry.

“I suppose you remembered our chess game then?” kirk said, stepping In to the overly warm room.

“ _ish-veh tor riolozhikaik tor variben fai-tor ik i fam yehat_ ” Said Spock, making his way to the food replicator to produce some tea.

Kirk sat at the table and began setting up the chess board.

“let me guess” she said “Something about talking while you cant understand me being illogical?”

The pieces were still in place from the last time they played and Kirk took a moment to appreciate the scene before dismantling it. Kirk had one that game, and liked that Spock hadn't already tidied it up.

When she finished setting up the board, Spock set down their tea and joined her at the table.

Kirk wasn't a tea person usually. She only drank tea when she was with Spock, the strange Vulcan blend had a strong enough taste to be drinkable, but it wasn't quite the same as a nice strong cup of coffee. Still, she liked the way Spock made it, even if his quarters much too warm for hot beverages.

When Spock sat silently, Kirk took that as her que to make the first move. She pretends to think deeply at the board for a moment, before moving a random pawn without any thought. She sits back while Spock ponders all the possibilities of her game plan before deciding on his own.

“I have a feeling you're going to be particularly quiet this evening” she said.

Spock looked up at her, the hints of a smile in his eyes, and moved a chess piece.

Kirk wasted no time thinking about her next move before moving her piece in a seemingly random fashion.

“This is so _bizarre_ ” she almost whispered, watching him. “How can you possibly not understand a word of English?”

Spock was staring at the board intently. “ _T'ma whu olaya du aitlun tor variben.”_ He said quietly.

Kirk felt her lips curl up into a smile. “I like hearing you speak Vulcan” she said “Its a beautiful language.”

Spock took one of her pieces with his own.

“ _that_ , I dont like so much” She moved into the defence.

“You know, I should get you to teach me some Vulcan some time.” she mused “We could talk about Bones right in front of him.”

“ _Talala nash variben u' riolozhikaik u' ish-veh zhagra”_ Spock responded, unclear weather he was talking to Kirk or himself.

“I must admit, im a little turned on”

Spock took another one of her pieces. “ _Tizh-tor khaf-spol ish-veh gen-lis”_

Kirk sighed as the reality of their situation sank in a little heavier

“I wish I knew what you were saying, Spock”

Spock studied her silently for a moment, the change in her tone and emotion clear.

“Things will be back to normal soon” she said with determination “I know it” 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading so far :D all feedback welcome!


	3. Chapter 3

The shift of social groups with the crew happened immediately. The crew of the Enterprise was highly diverse, and people didnt seem to have a problem seeking out and finding those who spoke their language.

But Kirk thought the mess hall looked like a scene from a high school move. Each table consisting of small clicks, completely separate from the rest of the room.

It was very different from the usual flow of eating and recreational areas. There had never been any clicks or little social groups, most people roamed freely like social butterflies, but now everyone had been neatly organised by language.

Kirks stood with bones in the que to the food replicator as she observed the crew. Bones was busy lecturing her on all of the foods he was going to block from her food card if she couldn't keep a decent diet, she was only half paying attention.

“How's it going in med-bay?” she asked, changing the subject. “With the language barrier, I mean.”

“its not too bad actually” McCoy responded positively. “there aren't too many of us not speaking English, but its not too hard to communicate whats going on. Are you lot adjusting on the bridge?”

Kirk pressed her food card into the replicator a little too hard. “I dont wanna talk about the bridge.” she said flatly.

They sat and ate their lunch. McCoy updated Kirk on the research in Med-bay, they were currently conducting brain scans on crew members to try and find anything that could be related to the language barrier.

Kirk didnt think they'd get any results but couldn't come up with anything better to suggest. Her money was on drifting as far away from the nebula disturbance as possible.

There was still quite a bit of time left until the next shift began, and when Kirk asked “Do you wanna get some paper work done?” McCoy's eyes lit up with sarcasm as he exclaimed “Well, Jim! I thought you'd never ask!”

 

They made their way to the conference room they always used for paperwork-catch-up.

When they unlocked the door and made their way inside, Spock was already at the table, surrounded by PADDs and other data spread over the table.

“Well, look whos already beat us too the punch” said McCoy, joining him at the table.

Spock looked up very briefly in greeting, before looking back down and continuing with his work. Kirk was already at the replicator making coffee.

McCoy took the PADDs out of his bag and began setting them down at the table

“You know Spock” Said McCoy “I almost miss our little talks.. _almost_.”

Spock looked up at McCoy with a look saved only for when he thought Bones was talking nonsense and said “ _t'ri tor bolaya tor ken-tor t'du tor fai-tor t'du nam-tor riyeht_.”

“You know, Bones” Said Kirk, setting down three hot beverages “I think you've probably just been insulted”

McCoy grumbled something about ' _pointy eared hobgoblins'_ and sat down.

They worked quietly together for some time. The majority of the heavy work had already been done, so McCoy was now spending a lot of time sliding PADDs over to Kirk, to look over and sign.

This was probably _the worst_ part about being captain.

Not only did you have to do your own paperwork, but you had to sign half of everyone else's too.

But she glanced them over quickly and signed them.

McCoy was, like herself, pretty good at skirting around details that might get them into trouble with the higher ups at star fleet, so she didn't worry too much about what he had to say.

Spock on the other hand, needed to be told exactly what to say and what _ **not**_ to say in all of his reports. This almost always resulted in, not an 'argument', but a 'discussion' on the rules and regulations and why exactly something were better off left unsaid and the moral consequences of this.

Kirk thought to the absolute nightmare of paperwork that will be waiting for her when all this is over as she slid her PADD and a stylus across the table to Spock.

The 'sign here' part was zoomed to be the only visible part of the document.

Spock gave her one of the looks he usually saved for McCoy.

“Oh c'mon Spock” She moaned “Can you just sign it? It will save so much time!”

“T' _dungi ri glat riyeht kisev”_ He said shaking his head.

“Spock” She sighed “Please.”

Spock took his own PADD and scrolled down to the bottom, he then slid his PADD and a stylus to Kirk and awaited her reaction.

Kirk looked between him and the PADD for a moment.

“No way. Im not approving that” She finally said.

Spock brought his own PADD back and continued his work as McCoy chuckled at them.

Kirk was yet to accept defeat though and quickly brought hers back to her and began to mess with the settings.

She found the symbol to change the language waited while the document translated into Vulcan. Spock was watching her curiously as she slid the PADD back to him when it was complete.

He glanced over it, then shook his head “ _dvun fam yehat ken-tor nash_ ” and slid it back to her.

She sighed in frustration again and grabbed Spocks PADD. She found the symbols to change the language, then found the one representing English and waited for it to complete.

The PADD reached 100% and refreshed the document.

The entire thing was still in impossible-to-read-Vulcan.

“What?” Kirk exclaimed “When will these damn things start to work properly? It doesn't make sense! How can all this technology be seemingly fine, but refuse to translate anything?”

“Its a shame you cant ask Spock about any of this” said McCoy, nose in his work. “I bet he's got _all_ the answers”

“Im sure he has, Bones” Said Kirk dryly “But unfortunately we cant communicate, in case you didn't already know.”

McCoy looked up then, and eyed the both of them thoughtfully.“But what if you could?”

“What?”

“What if you could? Communicate with him? Ask him?”

Spock was paying attention now, it was clear he was being talked about judging by their body language.

“What are you suggesting, Bones?” asked Kirk, her patentee wearing thin.

“Well, what if he could do that.. that _weird Vulcan_ mind reading thing?”

Kirk thought for a moment. “Thats not something they just do lightly McCoy. He doesnt like doing it at all, its only for dire situations”

“Well I dont know about you, Jim. But I'd say were in a pretty dire situation now. If he has any information that could help us..”

“Okay. Well I'll just ask him then, shall I?” said Kirk sarcastically “How's your Vulcan McCoy? can you explain your idea to Spock?”

McCoy got up off his chair and got close to Kirk. “What'd ya say Spock?” he said, imitating the mind-meld gesture on Kirks face “Can you do the mind thing? Do you understand what im saying?” he continued to make erratic gestures between Kirk and Spock and Spock watched in fascination.

Kirk swatted his hands away “ _Get off_ \- Hey! Why dont you volunteer your own mind?”

Bet the penny seemed to drop for Spock, and he reached his hand towards Kirks head in invitation. McCoy jerked away, as if being anywhere near them would be an immediate invasion of his mind.

Kirk hesitated for a moment, but slowly leaned her head close to Spocks hand as the gap closed between them.

Kirk watched Spock for a moment as he closed his eyes. He had a look of pure concentration on his face and began to very softly whisper “ _t'nash-veh kashek, tor ish-veh kashek._ ” only just loud enough for Kirk to hear, over and over again in a mantra.

The silence in the room was heavy, and Kirk was wildly aware of McCoys presence behind them, watching. She Shut her eyes and tried to concentrate too.

Suddenly, it was like someone was knocking on the door to her mind. A door she had never been aware of. It almost made her jump, like a phone ringing in a quiet room, or a loud doorbell.

She tried very hard to open her mind and began to feel the familiar warm presence of her friend wash over her. Everything about the feeling was undeniably _Spock_ and she had to stop herself from jumping for joy. She had not realised how much she had missed him.

She heard her own voice echo back, her sharp intake of breath as she smiled with her eyes closed. She saw herself for a moment through Spocks eyes before that part of his mind was cut off abruptly.

She heard words, very faintly echoing through her mind. Words still in Vulcan.

“ _ish-veh tor ret has-mar”_ it was something about what was happening to them.

“ _ret has-mar”_ she _couldn't_ quite get it. She could just about feel the meaning behind the words through their connection, but it wasn't enough.

She was suddenly hit with a memory.

Bones standing in med-bay, looking tired as he stood over a patent. ' _its like some kind of space madness'_ he explained. _ret has-mar_. _Space-madness._ The memory changed. It was of moments ago, Kirk watched herself fuss over the setting on the PADD. She felt what Spock felt as that moment. He knew she was wasting her time and they wouldnt be able to read it. There was nothing wrong with the PADDS. _Its all in our heads_. She listened to the conversation between her and McCoy. She couldn't understand a word of it. It was bizarre. She was shown the memory of Spock standing in med-bay once again, watching McCoy conducting tests with blood and chemicals. it was all wrong, this wasn't that kind of illness. _Its all in our heads._

Suddenly she was back in the room and aware of her surroundings. Spock gently broke the meld and lowered his hand.

“Jesus Jim” came McCoys voice “What'd he say?”

Kirk took a moment to compose herself

“You should change your research” She said “Spock thinks its more physiological than that, like space-madness. For all we know everyone is speaking English, we just cant hear it because we believe we cant.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the wait, I know this chapter was kinda weak too. I've been working a lot so I haven't had much time. But please, tell me what you think so far! Thank you all for reading. :) I will be sure to post more soon, I think there will only be two more chapters before its complete.   
> (please let me know if there are any typos or mistakes, thanks again!)


	4. Chapter 4

Spock studied the information on his screen closely. The young yeoman that was working with him buzzed about their station, observing and trying to make sense of the data he presented, to translate in standard English.

The bridge crew had adjusted well enough to their new routine, but the atmosphere was generally glum today.

Humans did have a knack for letting their emotions radiate strongly enough to overflow a room and Spock tried his hardest to block it out.

The night before, they had drifted what had been considered a ' _safe distance_ ' from the ion storm, and it had been generally hoped by most of the crew members that all of their language problems would be solved upon waking.

A naïve assumption, in Spocks opinion.

This data wasn't right though; so he pulled up the analytics of the ion high range frequency scanner and skimmed over the information. It appeared that something that had been altered down in lower deck C had severely effected the function of the scanner readouts.

He internally sighed as he prepared to communicate to the young crew member beside him.

He highlighted the corruption and made it as clear as possible what was going on on his screen, so she would understand and be able to inform the captain.

“Yeoman Barnet” He said, and she quickly whipped her head around at the sound of her name, wide eyed and eager to help.

Spock pointed to the screen and spoke very slowly.

“Inform the captain of this disturbance in the filtration field” He knew talking to her was pointless, and a little illogical. But it felt quite unnatural and a little awkward to just stand and point in silence all day.

The anxious crew member looked over the screen for a long moment, before turning back to him with confusion and saying “ _iyahb sheaem slefnong_?”

It took everything he had not to sigh.

Yoeman Barnet wasn't exactly dimwitted. She knew enough about science to be able to translate most of his findings to the captain. But there was a reason Spock was still on the bridge, and not replaced by any almost-competent English speaking crew member.

The anomaly in the data was subtle and would take an experienced eye to spot, it wasn't her fault. But Spock couldn't help but feel a little, very _slightly_ frustrated at the situation. In normal circumstances he would have informed Kirk of the problem and she would have made the necessary orders to solve it.

He pointed on another part of the screen.

“Lower deck C.” He said, still pointing and talking slowly “The repairs are causing a disturbance”

She looked at him blankly and shook her head with worry.

This was a time sensitive issue.

Spock looked over to Kirk to get her attention. (A weird quirk of Humans is that they can always tell when they were being watched and instinctively respond)

Kirk said something to Sulu and made her way over. She verbally greeted Barnet and gave Spock a half smile before leaning her hands on the back of Spocks chair as usual, letting the not-so-sturdy chair (and in turn Spock) support her weight as she leaned and listened to the yeomans explanation.

If anyone else did this Spock would probably stand up and let the chair topple over.

On Vulcan, its considered very impolite to invade personal space like that; but It didn't seem like such an invasion when Kirk invaded his space though. And she did often.

He felt a small hint of shame that often showed itself when regarding his captain.

He knew the only reason Kirk behaved like this was because he allowed her to.

It would take nothing to take a step away when she stepped too close, or flinch away from her friendly touch. But he allowed it to continue as a guilty pleasure, enjoying her invading presence and inappropriate comments.

If his father saw how he held himself around humans and how he allowed them to behave with him, he would surely get a raised eyebrow or two of disapproval, and probably a lecture on Vulcan propriety.

Kirk turned to him and asked something unintelligible. Spock pointed to the part of the screen that showed the deck holding the repairs but kirk didn't seem to be catching on. Why would she? Kirk wasn't trained to read his scanners, that's why Barnet was there.

He turned to the yoeman again and pointed again at the screen.

“If you do not inform the captain of this disturbance,” he said, jabbing the screen a little “the high range scanners will be severely compromised and the ship will be at high risk.”

Barnet turned to the Captain, looking a little flustered now “ _hf vsae thasi fhsi ehrie heifea_ ” She said

Kirk started looking a little more concerned, and placed on hand on her hip.

“ _ife fiesrfg hfesaiorf?!_ ” she asked.

Barnet responded by picking up a near by PADD and frantically scrolling through it as Kirk sighed a little impatiently.

She wasnt going to find anything in that PADD, and they really didnt have time to be going through this. Spock estimated that they had been exposed for 27.8 minuets, 16 minuets longer than what was considered acceptable by regulations.

Something had to be done.

After a brief moment of mental debate, Spock swivelled his chair around, letting Kirk stumble to regain her balance, and reached his hand towards Kirks face in suggestion of a mind meld.

She widened her eyes slightly at the gesture, but nodded her head and leaned in a little closer, letting Spocks fingers softly find her psi points.

The bombardment of human emotional transfer was instant and hit Spock like a shovel, as it always did when melding with any human.

Kirk always felt so many emotions at once; the stress of work, frustration and impatience with communication, fear at what was going wrong, social awkwardness at the thought of melding in front of the bridge crew, embarrassment at who might be watching and what they would say, excited anticipation and desire to socialise with her friend, warm happiness at finally being connected, comfortable familiarity.

Spock shut out the noise and concentrated hard.

_The high range ion scanners_

_damage repairs_

_causing interference_

_ship at high risk_

When he felt like his captain understood, he gently broke the meld and removed his hands.

He was alone in his mind once again and was surprised at how cold everything suddenly seemed.

He hadn't realised that not being able to talk to anyone would effect him so much, and it appeared that he actually missed his friend.

He missed their conversations and the weird things that humans would say. He missed Kirks teasing and her not-so-subtle flirting with him, even though he pretend not to notice. He even missed the banter he shared with McCoy and briefly wondered what kind of nonsense he had been brave enough to say right to Spocks face, the thought was even amusing.

Kirk straightened up slowly, readjusting to the real world. She looked around the bridge and eyes quickly diverted away from them and back to their own work.

Spock had no doubt that the crew knew enough about Vulcans to know what a mind meld looked like, but it probably looked pretty strange and a little intimate from a humans perspective. He hadn't considered any social repercussions that might occur from such a public action, he was aware there was already some odd rumours concerning him and his captain.

The safety of the ship was a higher priory than what other crew members thought though.

Kirk walked back to her chair and pressed the panel, barking some orders into it, then at Uhuras assistant. The problem was solved after a few minuets.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry about the long wait! I've been working so much this week   
> this chapter was originally longer with another section, but i decided to go ahead and post them as separate chapters while i edited/finished the rest so i could post something sooner  
> so there should be two (pretty short) chapters left and that will be the end of this story  
> i hope youre all enjoying it so far, this is my first multi-chapter fic, i really underestimated how much work it would be!   
> but thanks for reading :D ill post the next too chapters asap x


	5. Chapter 5

Spock watched as Kirk absentmindedly chewed on a chess piece and stared intently at the bored between them. 

Usually this was not allowed and Spock would confiscate the pieces that Kirk won from him, telling her that it was illogical, unhygienic, and one of the many bad habits that humans develop at infancy and shouldn't still keep as adults.

But tonight he allowed it.

The bags under her eyes were very visible, along with the crease between her eyebrows and she was playing a weak match with predictable moves and bad decisions.

Kirk must have felt Spocks eyes on her though, because she looked up at him and quickly pulled the chess piece out of her mouth like a guilty child.

“ _oh, aorf ahrjf osafjero gheoguje_ ” She said, probably apologizing.

“Talking to me when I cannot understand you is highly illogical, Captain” He said, aware of his own contradiction.

At this she smiled and looked down at her hands.

“English is a very fascinating language when observed as an outsider” He said softly “I must admit, I enjoy watching you speak it”

Kirk was still looking down as the chess piece in her hands but her smile faded into a frown.

“ _eih bseio wbfi aofea fwfgwue_ ” She sighed the words out and Spock doesn't know how to respond.

She looks up at him, the emotion in her eyes strong as she speaks.

“ _weofh isf wuehs fheisa hfweh oashf knvdsua hf sujrf ahfiwfbue?”_

Spock felt like he should say something, but emotional breakdowns were not his strong point. 

“ _erio erhgo nwhef gofhan”_ She looks deeply into him now as she talks, directing the words directly _at_ him. “ _ojafk bawe ewo soifk”_

She reaches over and lightly places her hand on top of his on the table, giving it a light squeeze before removing it.

She sighed and shook her head, a weak smile on her lips. _“wfh aohf kanfn”_ She move a piece on the chess bored.

Spock felt strangely helpless, unable to console his friend; but also a burning curiosity at her words.

What ever she had said, it was clearly meaningful.

But even if Spock could understand every word she said, he felt he would still be just as useless at responding.

“Captain..Jim” he began, unsure. “please do not be disheartened with our situation. Though it has proved more difficult than first thought to not be able to socialise with anyone.. with _you_... I have the utmost faith that this is not permanent, that things will be as they were before.”

He then reaches to the board and moves his piece, purposefully falling for the trap Kirk had set up.

Spock sees the corner of her lip turn up at his move and he gives Kirk the match.  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter should be posted tonight guys! Im really sick so I finally have some time off work (yay?)  
> I know this chapter was short, but the final chapter is really short too  
> but I hope you've enjoyed it :)


	6. Chapter 6

Kirk steps out of her living quarters as the doors swoosh open for alpha shift.

She walks down the hall, yawning and scrolling through a PADD.

She had a lot more messages and notifications than usual that she had been avoiding all morning.

She turned the corner, and Spock was just entering the turbo lift. Same time every day, just like clock work.

She entered the lift, only half paying attention as she opened a message from McCoy marked as “urgent”.

“Hey hot-stuff, hows it going?” she greeted casually.

Spock rose his eyebrow and looked down at her as the doors swooshed closed.

A subtle smile played on his face and he looked forward again before saying, in his most professional Vulcan voice.

“My morning has been adequate, Captain, how was yours?”

Kirk almost dropped the PADD she holding as she looked up at him, eyes wide in shock.

“You!.. I can! You mean?” she fumbled “You can understand me?”

“yes captain, I can understand you perfectly” he said, almost smugly.

Kirk felt her cheeks get hot and knew she was wildly blushing at that ridiculous comment, but it wasn't important now.

“How?” was all she could muster

“Doctor McCoy continued conducting his experiments last night, and I was unfortunate enough to be chosen for a trial. Surprisingly it seems to be successful without any side effects.” Kirk just stood bewildered and beaming at Spock, happy to be finally talking with him.

“The rest of the crew are due to also be 'cured' and should report to sickbay with in reasonable shifts” He explained. “though I must warn you, It does involve a mild electric shock and temporary unconsciousness.”

“This is incredible” Kirk said, “That man could cure the common cold! How did he do it? What the hell cause this?”

“though I cannot tell you what caused our problems, Doctor McCoy explained to me that attempting to recreate the effects that the storm had on the brain while at a distance from the storm itself could act like a 'reset button'. Though it is unclear how scientificly accurate this is, or if it is largely a strong placebo effect. It would be impossible to recreate the circumstances to test this.”

Kirk nodded as the information processed.

“well, what about all of the equipment?” She asked “Is it working now?”

“Interestingly enough, Captain, it had never stopped working.” He said “This suggests that this was more of a physiological issue rather than a physical one. I reviewed some of the security tapes of our interactions and found that when I attempted to speak English, I was indeed speaking English. As were other crew members”

Kirk went a little white

“You.. you reviewed some of the tapes?” She asked cautiously.

“Yes, Captain” Spock said casually. “it appeared that the universal translators were fully fictional, along with all of the language translation software”

He continued to talk technical for a little bit. If he'd heard anything inappropriate or out of the ordinary, he wasn't letting on.

“Why didnt anyone tell me, dammit?” Kirk finally said

“Doctor McCoy suggested that I be the one to inform you of the good news, that it would 'lift your spirits'”

The doors to the turbo lift swooshed open, revealing the bridge.

Half of the crew were missing, presumably getting seen by the good doctor himself.

Kirk smiled her signature smile at Spock for the first time in a while, and laughed a little. Bones would get a chuckle hearing how his plan to cheer her up went down. “Well, Mr Spock” She said “Consider my spirits lifted” and they walked to their stations and began their day.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> agh! I know this story was a little anti climactic!   
> I just wanted to finish it tbh but I hope it was okay and I really hope you enjoyed it  
> the entire fic was honestly based on the 'hey hot stuff' line even though it was unbearably cheesy.  
> But like I said, I dont think the language idea was mine, im pretty sure I saw something about it on tumblr, I wish I could credit but it was a long time ago  
> please feel free to use the idea though, id love to see it executed better   
> sorry the last chapters were so short and kinda boring, I pretty much lost inspiration for this one   
> I think I will continue posting in future(in both male and female kirk), but i'll probably stick to shorter stories if I can help it  
> thank you all so much for reading and for the feedback! It means so much to me!! :D  
> LLAP

**Author's Note:**

> I apologize if there are any mistakes with him/her pronouns! (Or any mistakes in general) i do post each fic twice with a fem!Kirk version and male Kirk so it can get messy sometimes  
> There will be more to come of this fic so stay tuned. Please let me know what you think :)


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